July storms keep Sandy Springs public safety officials busy

On July 10, 2012, storms knocked over this tree causing it to fall on a home on Hunting Creek Road in Sandy Springs. No one was injured.

In back-to-back weeks Tuesday storms in Sandy Springs kept public safety officials on their toes as they cleaned up fallen trees and assisted residents.

On July 10, trees fell on a home on Hunting Creek Road at Mt. Vernon Highway, city spokeswoman Sharon Kraun reported. There were two people inside the home at the time but they weren’t injured. A tree also fell on a car on Johnson Ferry Road while a passenger was still inside, but that passenger escaped injury as well.

The storm closed more than a dozen streets due to downed trees and power lines. There was only one injury, a firefighter who received injuries from a homeowner’s frightened cat.

The July 10 storms echoed storms that passed through a week prior.

Before the excitement of the fireworks on July 4, nature provided the city with some fireworks of its own.

July 3 was a busy day for the Sandy Springs Fire and Police Departments as heavy rains toppled trees, leading to road closures. The city also dealt with a brush fire, according to its Facebook page.

Kraun said calls on July 3 started coming in around 6 p.m. She said in each case, city crews and contractors were on top of things within minutes and most of the problems were addressed quickly.

“We had a total of 14 areas that either had trees down in the street or significant cleanup required,” Kraun said. “There were four calls for traffic signals that were out or flashing. All of the traffic signals were addressed immediately by city crews. All of the trees were removed from the streets by 2 p.m. on Wednesday, and all the significant cleanup to this point was completed by 1 p.m. on Thursday.”

The city reported trees down at Wright Circle, Tanacrest Drive, River Valley Road and Amberidge Trail. On Wright Circle, a tree fell on a woman’s car while she was still inside, causing minor injuries.

Pressure from stormwater runoff damaged Roswell Road at Abernathy Road where the Georgia Department of Transportation is currently making some improvements. One northbound lane of Roswell was closed for six hours.